Whistle for pneumatic toys



July 5, 1955 G. wlNTRlsS WHISTLE FOR PNEUMATIC TOYS Filed sept. 9, 1952FIE. I.

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United States Patent() WHISTLE FOR PNEUMATIC TOYS George Wintriss,Carversville, Pa., assignor to Wintriss Inc., New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application September 9, 1952, Serial No.308,636

Claims. (Cl. 46-117) ln order to provide sound for inexpensive rubbertoys, whistles are inserted in the walls or skin of the toys. When a toywith such a whistle is squeezed, or allowed to expand again aftersqueezing, the passage of air through the whistle causes the sound.

These whistles are popular because of their simplicity and low cost.They are held in place by flanges that extend outwardly across theimmediatelyy adjacent portions of both the outside and inside surfacesof the wall or skin through which they extend; and the openings intowhich they are inserted are stretched to permit passage of the insideflange during assembly of the whistle and the toy.

A serious disadvantage of these whistle-equipped toys has been the easewith which the whistles are dislodged. This is dangerous with babies andsmall children because they are likely to swallow the whistles.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved constructionfor whistles that are to be used in toys and to provide an improvedmethod of effecting assembly of the whistle in the toy. This inventionprovides inner and outer anges on the whistle of such greatA extent thatthe whistle cannot be dislodged from the toy, yet the constructionretains the simplicity and low cost of the prior art.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear orbe pointed out as the description proceeds.

ln the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like referencecharacters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

Figure 1 is a greatly enlarged view of the front of a whistle, embodyingthis invention and held in a skin of an air-lilled toy; and

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along a diameter of the whistle shownin Figure 1.

The whistle includes a front element 11 in which there is a deep drawn,circular or annular corrugation 12, with its recess opening toward thefront of the whistle. This annular recess is spaced inwardly from theperiphery of the front element 11 so as to leave a flange 13 extendingradially outward beyond the recess of the annular corrugation 12.

Another ange 14 extends inwardly from the recess to an opening at thecenter of the front element 11. The outside wall of the annularcorrugation 12 is cylindrical throughout at least a portion of itsdepth. The outside diameter of the cylindrical portion of thecorrugation is substantially equal to the inside diameter of acylindrical recess 20, formed in a rear element 21 of the whistle.

The cylindrical recess has a bottom 23 in which there is an opening 24in substantial alinement with the opening 15 of the front element 11. Aange 25 extends outwardly around the entrance of the cylindrical recess20.

The anges 13 and 25 preferably converge toward one another in thedirection of the circumferential edges of ICC these flanges. With thisconstruction, the outer edges of the flanges 13 and 25 engage with theouter and inner surfaces of a wall or skin 28 of an air-filled toy orother object with which the whistle is used.

When the whistle is to be assembled and attached to the toy, the rearelement 21 is lirst pushed through an opening 38 in the skin 28, theopening being stretched by the flange 25 to permit the rear element 21to pass through into the interior of the toy,

The annular corrugation of the front `element 11v is then insertedthrough the opening 30, in the manner illustrated in Figure 2, and thecylindrical portion of the rear element is brought into engagement withthe outside of the annular corrugation 12, as shown in full lines in thedrawing. The front and rear elements are then pressed together, the rearelement moving into the position indicated by dotted lines. Asadditional pressure is applied, the elements telescope to a greaterextent, so that the flanges 13 and 25 are attened out with the skin 28clamped between them and most tightly in the regionaround the outercircumferences of the flanges 13 and 25.

The chamber enclosed between the lower `portion of the cylindricalrecess 20 and the space surrounded by the annular corrugation 12provides the air chamber of the whistle.

The inner flange 25 is larger than can be provided in conventionalwhistles that have the inner flange in its permanent position withrespect to the outer flange before the whistle is inserted into the toy.For this reason, the ilanges grip the skin 28 across a wider area aroundthe opening 30 and provide a much more secure connection between thewhistle and the skin of the toy. The manner in which the whistle isassembled, by having the flanges 13 and 25 brought closer together andinto clamping engagement with the skin 28 also provides a more secureand tighter grip for the whistle on the skin of the toy.

The cylindrical portion of the annular corrugation 12 has a press-fit inthe cylindrical recess 2G of the rear element so that there is asubstantial friction for preventing any possible release of the clampingpressure of the flanges 13 and 25 against the surfaces of the skin 28.This friction is sutiicient to hold the elements permanently assembledwith one another. The depth of the cylindrical recess 20 and the lengthof the cylindrical portion of the annular corrugation 12 are suilicientto provide ample friction when the flanges 13 and 25 are at variousspacing from one another, including a spacing corresponding to thethickest skin with which the whistle is intended to be used. On theother hand, the front and rear elements can be pushed close enoughtogether to make the llanges 13 and 25 also grip the thinnest skin withwhich the whistle is used. The presstit of the corrugation 12 in therecess 20 continues tight no matter how close together the flanges 13and 25 come to one another.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, but various changes and modiiications can be made withoutdeparting from the invention as dened in the claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A whistle comprising a circular front element with an annularcorrugationopen toward the front of the front element and having asubstantially cylindrical outside wall throughout at least an extensivepart of the depth of the corrugation and with its axis concentric withthe center of the circular front element, said corrugation being spacedinward from the periphery of the front element for a substantialdistance to leave a ange of substantial radial extent around the outsideof the annular corrugation, a circular rear element with a cylindricalrecess having an inside diameter substantially equal to the diameter ofthe substantially cylindrical part of the outside wall of the annularcorrugation and fitting tightly as a press t over the outside of thewall ofthe annular corrugation, and a flange on the rear elementextending radially outwardly from the outside of the wall of thecylindrical recess for clamping against the inside face of a skin of atoy through which the corrugation of the front element extends, bothelements having closed outer ends except for generally central openingsfor the passage of air into and from the whistle.

2. The Whistle described in claim l characterized by a cylindricalrecess equal to at least the depth of the annular corrugation minus thethickness of the thinnest skin or partition which is intended to beclamped between the anges of the front and rear elements of the whistle.

.3. In a whistle assembly having front and rear iianges extendingradially across outside and inside surfaces of a skin of a toy to whichthe whistle is connected, the f improvement which comprises a centerstructure of onepiece construction with the front flange and having adeep annular corrugation with a substantially cylindrical outside wallthroughout most of the depth of the corrugation and an inwardlyextending flange projecting radially inward from the inner wall of thecorrugation to a substantially circular opening through the front of thewhistle, and a cylindrical portion of one-piece construction with therear flange and having a bottom wall with an opening therethrough thatcomprises the rearward opening of the whistle, the inside diameter ofthe cylinder being substantially equal to the diameter of the outsidewall of the corrugation so as to provide a press tit for the cylinderover the outside wall of the corrugation for holding the parts of thewhistle in assembled relation with the flanges firmly clamped againstthe outside and inside surfaces of the skin.

4. A whistle for insertion in the wall of a rubber toy, said whistlecomprising a front element having a deep drawn annular recess with atleast a portion of its outside wall substantially cylindrical, along anextensive length of said outside wall, said annular recess being spacedinward from the periphery of the front element so as to leave a ilangeextending radially outward beyond the recess, and another ange extendingradially inwardly from the recess and closing the area therewithinexcept for an opening in the mid-region of the front element; a rearelement having a deep drawn closed bottom cylindrical recess with aninside diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the substantiallycylindrical portion of the outside wall of the annular recess of thefront element and fitting tightly over said substantially cylindricalportion of the outside wall, an opening through the center region ofsaid bottom, and a flange at the forward end of the rear element andextending radially outwardly around the entrance of the cylindricalrecess, the front and rear elements enclosing a perforated whistlechamber between them when they are assembled with the substantiallycylindrical annular recessed portion of the front element extending intothe cylindrical recess of the rear element.

5. The whistle described in claim 4, characterized by the lirst namedilange on the front element, and the flange on the rear element, havingat least a portion of each flange converging toward the other ange inthe direction of the outer edges of the flanges.

References Cited in the lile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS697,344 Leland Apr. 8, 1902 878,550 `Mead Feb. ll, 1908 2,485,142 DuncanT Oct. 18, 1949 2,559,999 Wescott July l0, 1951

